Local Natives – Cecilia

The idea for this first Barnstormer tour was born in the late spring on 2009 as Local Natives were driving straight across America to begin a tour on the east coast. They stopped in for a mid-afternoon BBQ of pork chops on the grill. The idea had been floating around and it was discussed and solidified that day. They piled back into the van and we began looking for the barns across Iowa and Wisconsin that we’d bring them, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Catfish Haven, Snowblink, Dri, Mac Lethal, Stranger Waves, Paleo and Caleb Engstrom to play over the course of five days. The weather was ideal for late July in the Midwest, many degrees below normal, with highs in the high 70s, low 80s. We saw sunshine every day except for the final night in Coon Rapids, Iowa (about an hour northwest of Des Moines). The tour started in Maquoketa, Iowa, moved on to Bellevue, Iowa (Day 2), then a scorching hot attic party in Madison, Wisc. (Day 3 — severely disrupted and delayed by a major bus malfunction and abandonment), then our first stop at the 1883 Secrest Octagonal Barn in West Liberty, Iowa (Day 4) and finally to Coon Rapids, Iowa (Day 5 — with the show beginning after a potluck and an author reading). Please enjoy these moments as this is where the legend of the Barnstormer began.